a common vaccines It may help fight cancer, new research suggests.
Researchers found that for cancer patients receiving immunotherapy, receiving an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine within about 100 days of starting immune checkpoint therapy significantly improved survival.
Researchers from the University of Florida and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center analyzed data from more than 1,000 cases. cancer patient Patients with stage 3 and 4 non-small cell lung cancer and metastatic melanoma treated at MD Anderson from 2019 to 2023.
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All patients were treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, a type of immunotherapy drug that helps the immune system recognize and attack tumor cells more effectively.
Some patients received the mRNA COVID vaccine within 100 days of infection. Start immunotherapy Some did not, according to the study’s press release.
Researchers found that people who received both the vaccine and immunotherapy lived “significantly” longer.
Those who received the vaccine lived nearly twice as long as the average, 37.3 months compared to 20.6 months.
The highest survival rates were seen in patients with immunologically “cold” tumors, or tumors that are generally resistant to immunotherapy. In these patients, the addition of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine was associated with an almost 5-fold increase over 3 years overall survival.
“At the time the data was collected, some patients were still alive, meaning the vaccine may be even more effective,” the release states.
The researchers then replicated this result in a mouse model. Immunotherapy drug to mice, COVID-19 spike proteintheir tumors were more responsive to treatment.
Non-mRNA vaccines against influenza and pneumonia did not have similar effects, the study found.
The findings were presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2025 Congress in Berlin on October 19 and published in the journal Nature.
“The impact will be extraordinary and this could revolutionize the entire medical field.” tumor care” said Elias Seyoul, M.D., a pediatric oncologist at UF Health and senior investigator in the Stop Children’s Cancer/Bonnie R. Freeman Research Professor of Pediatric Oncology.
Because this was an observational study, the researchers noted that prospective randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm the results.
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“Although causality has not yet been proven, this is the type of therapeutic effect that we strive for and hope to achieve with therapeutic interventions, but it rarely happens,” said Duane Mitchell, M.D., director of the University of Florida Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences.
“The urgency and importance of doing this is Confirmation work It cannot be overstated. ”
Researchers now plan to begin a large-scale clinical trial through the university-led OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Network, a consortium of hospitals, health centers and clinics in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, California and Minnesota, the release states.
Researchers suggested that a “universal, off-the-shelf” vaccine could be developed to boost the immune response and survival rates of cancer patients.
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“If we can double what we’re currently achieving with this, or incrementally increase it by 5%, 10%, that means a lot to patients, especially if we can leverage this globally.” various cancers We cater to a variety of patients,” Sayur added.
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This research was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the Food and Drug Administration, the American Brain Tumor Association, and the Radiological Society of North America.
